Call the Governor to Stop The Return of Lever Voting Machines!
The bill is on his desk – call now!

While we understand that this legislation mandates Device Marking Ballot (DMB) machines at every polling place for people with disabilities and we acknowledge that this is supposed to be for only one year, we are working to make sure that the Governor vetoes this legislation.

With all the wrangling that has been going on in Albany over hundreds of pieces of legislation, there now sits a bill on Governor Cuomo’s desk for his signature that will allow the New York City Board of Elections (NYC BOE) use the old lever voting machines for the primary election for Mayor this year. This legislation was created because the NYC BOE feels that it cannot prepare the mandated optical scanner machines in time for the possible run-off election that is mandated by City law if none of the Democratic candidates gets at least 40% in the Primary Election.

This is a slippery slope that we do not want to go down. Again, this legislation is only for one year, but during debate on the Assembly floor, one member from a suburban district warned that if this bill is passed, he and his colleagues will be back to get exemptions for THEIR districts to use lever voting machines. This will also set a bad precedent, not just for New York state, but for the entire country! If New York City can ignore federal guidelines why can’t Chicago? Or Los Angeles? Or Tulsa? Or Macon?

Temporary backslides in accessibility are NOT acceptable and should not be tolerated here.

Bills will be signed quickly, so please contact Governor Cuomo’s office now at 518-474-8390 (press 3) and tell the Governor to veto this bill.

NOTE: Earlier, we sent an Action Alert when this bill was being discussed in the Assembly. Some responded that electronic voting machines were not safe in terms of counting votes. This is NOT the issue we are addressing with this Action Alert. We are stopping the use of inaccessible voting machines. Any issues with vote counting in terms of the voting machines we use, should be addressed in different legislation.

Talking Points:

• Please veto the bill that would allow New York City to use the old lever voting machines.
• This is a slippery slope that we do not want to go down.
• While this legislation is only for one year, one Assemblyman from a suburban district warned that if this bill is passed, he and his colleagues will be back to get exemptions for THEIR districts to use lever voting machines.
• This will also set a bad precedent, not just for New York state, but for the entire country! If New York City can ignore federal guidelines, any City or Town can.

Thank you,

Dean DeRusso
Deaf Systems Advocate
Regional Center for Independent Living (RCIL)